Here's To You, Matt Stover

Here’s to you, Matt Stover.

Here’s to one of the greatest---and most underrated---place kickers in NFL history.

Here’s to you being able to retire a Baltimore Raven.

Here’s to you being the third most accurate kicker in NFL history.

Here’s to you single-handedly providing the offense for the 2000 Ravens team that won the Super Bowl in Tampa on January 28, 2001.

Here’s to you for all the memories you provided us Ravens fans. For sticking it out with us for so long, and last but not least…

You left us after the 2008 season in nothing but a class way. You took your release and demotion with the professionalism that not many guys of your caliber can handle.

I’ll always remember Stover as the steady yet unnoticed kicker from the 2000 season. It was then that we all really realized just how sensational and steady you were. You won two games for us during a five game stretch where the offense couldn’t score a single touchdown. Was there pressure on you? Absolutely. But you handled it all in stride and made the kicks you were asked to make. We cannot thank you enough.

For the games where you missed multiple field goals (and I cant remember more than two) and yet pointed to the sky whether you were successful or unsuccessful. You were a man who stuck to his beliefs.

Here’s to you, Matt Stover. You will always be the most popular kicker in Raven history no matter what.

Finally, here’s to the day when you are introduced into the Ring of Honor at M&T Bank Stadium during halftime. That’s the moment you become immortal in Ravens lore---and stay the true legend you have been in this town.

Congratulations on a sensation career. I wish you the best of luck in the future.